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Background and Objectives: This study aims to examine the causal effect of adult children’s marital status on parental depressive symptoms in the Chinese context, and whether parents’ demographic characteristics play a role in the association.

Research Design and Methods: We utilized the 5 waves of China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study spanning over 9 years. The participants were categorized into 3 distinct groups: (1) the individuals with at least 1 divorced adult child; (2) those with at least 1 unmarried child aged 30 or older; and(3) a reference group consisting of those not meeting criteria for the first 2 categories. We employed marginal structural models to estimate the causal effect of adult children’s marital status and parental depressive symptoms.

Results: In total, 13,077 participants were included in the analysis. Parents with divorced adult children (β = 1.55, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.28–1.82) and those with marriage-delayed children (β = 0.83, 95% CI: 0.53–1.13) had an increased risk of depressive symptoms when compared to the reference group. When the number of divorced or marriage-delayed adult children was included, the coefficient for parental depressive symptoms was 1.10 (95% CI: 0.92–1.28).

Discussion and Implications: This study provides evidence that adult children’s divorce and delayed marriage are associated with parental depressive symptoms in the Chinese context. This research helps uncover culturally significant risk factors for late-life depression, necessitating enhanced psychological support and preventive strategies to address the needs of vulnerable groups.